2002 wasn't such a bad year for me, folks:

New girlfriend
New apartment
New job
New car
Cleared debts
Refurbished UK apartment

All in all, the overall trend of my life has reversed itself from 'going to rat 5h1t' to 'vast improvement'.

Me a happy and smug bunny.

Come on, then, spill yer guts: what's your year been like?

TW

I retired on the !st Jan, then took over a friend's consultancy company. Moved back to Blighty and found a smashing area to live. Got £200 heating allowance from the Islington Luvvies. Me quite a happy bunny. The sheep around here seem happy too.

Glad to see that TW has got over the hilly bit in life.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda :)

Wise words that a friend of mine passed on to me from his grandmother:
At this time of year, look back at the past year. If you can either laugh or cry, then your year has not been wasted.I'm pleased to say that my year hasn't been wasted. There are few things I can look back on and cry about, but thankfully many more things I can look back on and laugh at. I just hope next year is as good - not just for me, but for all of us! :)

FFF
------------------

Achieved PPL
Moved to a great house in great new area
Tough but rewarding year at work

Guess it was a good one!
Hersh

Watch yer back Mr Woo, just when you think everything is turning up roses and things are just peachy , thats when that twat Mr Fate sneaks up and kicks yer arse. ;)
You didn't sign anything recently Mr Woo,?? some piece of paper from a funny looking dark chap called Legba. :rolleyes:

Gald to hear it anyway Tricky, have a good crimbo. ;)

It doesn't feel like it at the moment, but this has been a pretty good year.
My PPL arrived in January, and I've logged (I think) three new types in my licence since, and flown as passenger in a lot more!
I've finally got some results for my PhD, but still not left the lab :rolleyes:
And I've learnt to deal with a number of household emergencies, including mouse infestations, and blocked sinks ;)

Next year should be a ball... I'm moving house twice in the first two months, writing my thesis, getting a job, and hopefully moving again later in the year into my own house... :eek: Help?

I hate to put as damper on it but 02 has been poo
I have spent the year nursing my now rapidly ailing mother, she has incurable Cancer and watching how the disease can rip your spirit away has been a salutary lesson in mortality. She is still hanging on in the Sobell House Hospice in Oxford, but it wont be long.

In order to look after her Mrs Fence and I have sold our lovely house and moved in with her, which had made Mr Bank very happy, its just a pity that the Revenue are going to get all of it after she dies.

No 2002 can **** off as far as I am concerned.

MOTF - sorry to hear your news - thoughts and prayers for the hard time to come. I hope 2003 is better.

My year has been horrible - short of two good things in particular (I got married and my friend's little boy was born), 2002 has been absolutely horrible. Bad things happening to me and lots of people around me. It's been very, very hard to stay positive.

Will be spending New Year with some friends who are also extremely glad to see the back of 2002...can't wait!

Best wishes to all for 2003:)

My year has been total sh!t. :(

* house got burnt down
* slash got burnt down
* mum died
* legal 'fees' totaling in excess of US$100K

just to name the bigger events that stand out.

2002 has been a pretty good year for me. Highlights would be welcoming number two short person in to the world (early the little toad), and watching the number one son grow up into a person. Growing older gracefully (ish).

Bad points - I've said good bye to too many friends and relations , my funeral suit has been out the wardrobe way too often - there must be a mortality blip in the middle/late 30s.

I've spent a fortune on flying and boating, hopefully 2003 will be cheaper. I've met many new friends, some of them of them I'll make best efforts to meet up for the odd beer say five / seven etc..

2003 - Not looking too good at the moment work wise, I might be on "holiday" in the fist quarter whilst scanning the situation vacant pages.

Best advice: Do not invert contents liable to spill :)

Slash, MOTF - sorry to hear about your horrible years.

Went through similar in 1993 and again in 1996: lost job, serious illness, last remaining parent died, taxman got the lot and so on. At the time it seems as though the bad news just won't stop coming.

All I can say to you is - things will get better - even though that's the last thing it feels like at the moment. Just hang in there, and don't forget that there are those around you who really care - often in places where you least expect.

Slash, MOTF - you guys seem to have had horrible times for the past 12 months. Hope things get better soon.

Last 12 for me have been a bit blurry :( Looking through my lab book I spent the majority of the year rebuilding and debugging my robot, only to have a final problem with it's power supply nix the whole damn thing for the time being. I dropped out of the rifle club committee and the national committee, and in fact took a break from target shooting after 8 years of actively training and shooting on a continous basis. Still on that break, come to think of it :D During the summer, I finally resolved to do what I'd been putting off for the last decade and get down to getting my PPL and then I discovered PPRuNe :D And from that point on, well, things just got better and better. So now I find myself at the end of 02, feeling better than I have in, ooooh, about ten years, and actively looking forward to each new day. Unfortunately, my research is at a "big report due" stage so stress and tension is rather high, but PPRuNers are helping me relax.

Oh, and went to my first GatBash too. And my first DubBash. And my first holiday in ages.

Yup, a year with a lot of firsts. :)

:( Bad year for me too.

My mother also died (big C, terrible times). Job is pants. Lots of stress at home. Old age setting in, health suffering, hair now turning to silver, eyes getting worse, back hurts, bank account getting low. And not enough nookie....

Then again, all but the first two probably partly PPRuNe induced! :D

TERRIBLE TRAGETY
Young man who recently gained his PPL who also came top at Bisley, was today strangled to death as he sat at his computer by a jelous Robot with duff power supply. ;)

Hmmmm Drapes :D
*makes mental note to hold robot-smashing party after getting PhD*
:D

I guess I'm in the Slasher/MOTF/Shy Torque camp with 2002 having been the most truly dreadful year. A series of the worst possible things a person can experience happened one after the other and, yes, my own mother died too.

On New Year's Eve I intend to be standing by the ocean and at the stroke of twelve, a small piece of paper will hit the water, screwed into a tight ball and thrown by me as far as I am able to cast it. On the paper will be written the numbers 2002.

I can only assume that 2003 will be a better year because the monumental dump of sh.... that hit me this year could not possibly happen again. Wish me luck!

Regardless of all that, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all my fellow PPRuNers. (Tricky, I am so glad that things have improved for you, it's really good news.)

Sorry to hear of so many bad 2002's for so many of you.

I look back and learn from the experience at this time of the year. I just accept the things that I can't change and work out how to change the things that I can.

Jet Blast has been a great new discovery this year, though I often think that I should'nt be spending quite as long as I do here. Addictive stuff ! Thanks to you all for putting up with me !

Wishing you all a brilliant 2003 !!!!

:D :) ;) :p